Overview: Christ Community is a church thoroughly committed to affirming and equipping men and women in the workplace with a robust theology of work and vocation. They do this less through an official workplace program which would require significant budgetary and staff resources, than though intentionally weaving a biblical perspective of work into every aspect of the church’s ministry. These efforts include:

Theologies of work and vocation are a central part of the spiritual formation process. Razor’s Edge, a two-year discipleship process that covers how faith integrates with all areas of life including work

Worship and Celebration

Besides sermons that regularly include workplace applications and illustrations, Christ Community intentionally celebrates a broad variety of vocations. Weekend services often feature live vocational testimonies, as well as videos that highlight different workplaces.

The music chosen for worship shows the same intentionality. Worship includes songs that reinforce a robust theology of vocation, and they avoid songs with theologically ill-formed lyrics which promote a dualistic view of the spiritual life.

Pastoral prayers include prayers for the workplace.

Worship at Christ Community also includes Commissioning Services for members in various vocations. In these services, pastors verbally affirm their calling and formally pray for those being commissioned for their specific workplaces.

Events

The church hosts periodic church-wide conferences on the subject of work, and promotes and encourages cooperative relationships with other workplace ministries in the community.

Language

Perhaps most impressive is the intentional way pastors and church leaders have changed their language to reflect the biblical perspective that all men and women are called to serve God full-time, whatever their vocation. Leaders studiously avoid words and phrases such as “a secular job,” “sacred space,” “full-time ministry,” “frontline ministry,” or “moving from success to significance” that imply a less than robust biblical view of calling. They monitor this carefully by taking a language inventory to see how they are doing in both written and oral communication.

What’s Ahead

Plans are being considered for how to encourage and foster workplace mentoring, matching mature workplace followers of Christ with younger men and women in their line of work.

Watch Pastor Tom Nelson Discuss the importance of Work in God's Story

“If we have not thought deeply about the theology and mission of faith, work and economics, we really aren’t going to be a faithful pastor.”

Have you stopped to consider what the integration of faith, work, and economics would look like in your ministry as a church leader?